Port Manatee is one of Florida’s largest and fastest growing deepwater seaports. Located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico at the ... entrance to Tampa Bay, Port Manatee is also regarded as the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal – providing shippers with speedy access to Pacific Rim markets. The port and its partners move approximately 8 million tons of containerized, breakbulk, bulk and project cargo each year including fresh produce, forestry products, petroleum products, citrus juice products, fertilizer, steel, aluminum, automobiles, cement, aggregate and more. As a leading economic engine, Port Manatee adds more than $3.9 billion dollars annually in regional economic impact and supports more than 27,000 jobs. read more